The Urantia Book and
Oahspe

In his later years,
author Harold Sherman (1898-1987), well known
for his association with the Urantia revelation,
became a believer in another great revelatory
work known as Oahspe. What follows are some of
his comments and comparisons, taken from his
correspondence* between 1964-1984.

To
Henry Belk, 12/31/62: Did I ask
you if you had read the Book of Urantia,
supposedly a revelation, which came
through a sleeping subject? I would like
to do a book, when I can afford the time
to do it, comparing the psychic
revelations, so-called, of Andrew
Jackson Davis, Swedenborg, Boehme,
Hudson, Oahspe, Urantia, and others,
which would demonstrate that these
concepts of the nature of the universe
are remarkably similar, suggesting that
true sensitivity can bring back
remarkably similar stories of the nature
of spiritual and physical forces—and
that, in general, it is possible that
the great mystics and psychics of all
ages were in touch with the same
knowledge.

To
Henry Belk, 11/4/62: I was
going over Oahspe again last night and
noting the foreword explanation as to
how this material came through. It is
not unlike Andrew Jackson Davis, in his
Nature’s Divine Revelations. No question
but that some intelligences made contact
with these men’s minds. I have long
contended that there is only one basic
true concept and nature of the Universe,
and that if a sufficient number of
higher intelligences gave us somewhat
the same picture, this could be it.
Newcombe and Davis seem to give the same
general picture of the electro‑magnetic
nature of the cosmos, etc; but I haven’t
had time to check details. The Book of
Urantia stands out as far beyond any
other literature in this field, and our
connection with some of the principals
such as Harry J. Loose give us more
confidence in its authenticity. I wish
we could, one day, separate the wheat
from the chaff on Urantia—greatly
simplify it and make this knowledge
available to mankind.

To
Joseph Crossen, circa 3/3/65:
Have you read Andrew Jackson Davis’s
Nature’s Divine Revelations, and Oahspe,
two amazing books, which have some
parallels to Urantia, and all three of
which came through different forms of
automatic writing? To make a study of
Urantia, one needs to make a study of
these other books, in my opinion. Yes, I
know what really occurred during the
time the Urantia material came through,
but the identity of the “sleeping
subject” has been a carefully guarded
secret, except he was a young
stockbroker, member of the Board of
Trade of Chicago. I am astonished that
Doctor, at this stage, would admit “wild
tales,” because he insisted this story
would never be made public; that the
book would have to be accepted on its
subject matter, divorced from any
knowledge of how it originated, etc. I
contended that the investigators would
demand to know the source, etc., and
that books like Nature’s Divine
Revelations and Oahspe commanded respect
because they did carefully outline how
they came into existence.

To
Robert Burton, 6/5/70: At your
age, you may not feel you can get
involved in a study of that remarkable
book Oahspe, which I rate on a par with
Urantia if not above it. One more or
less proves the other but Oahspe has
more humanity in it, and more knowledge
of what we can do in this life to serve
mankind and develop our own souls. It
takes real study—as Urantia did—until
you get the full panorama and impact of
it. It would help add dimensions to your
mind before you pass over to have Oahspe
in your consciousness. That’s how great
I think it is.

To
Betty and Gary, 7/7/70: For
comparison, you should read a great book
which came through automatic writing,
titled Oahspe. It will be tough reading,
as Urantia is, but very rewarding. I
mentioned Urantia and Oahspe—along with
a third book, Nature’s Divine
Revelations, by Andrew Jackson Davis—in
one of my talks at our recently held
Healing Workshop in Hot Springs (see
brochure), and told my audience that no
book is infallible, but that these books
contained knowledge worth studying and
evaluating.

To
Robert Burton, 1/18/71: There
are many mysteries which remain to be
solved. I ask you again, have you read
Oahspe?—one of the truly great books
ever written, from whatever source.

Burton
to Sherman, 1/22/71: Yes we
have the Oahspe and I have read
it, and intend to read it more carefully
again.

To
Robert Burton, 2/21/71: It’s
probably heresy to a Urantian for us to
say that we have gotten and are getting
much more out of that remarkable book,
Oahspe, than we have or ever could get
out of the Urantia Book. If you have not
studied it, you owe it to yourself to do
so, because it tells you how to live on
this planet, how to better yourself here
and help your fellow man, and the
relationship we bear to those who have
gone on—much of which knowledge can be
demonstrated. Urantia limits the
universe mathematically; Oahspe does
not. It is far more human and direct and
personal in its application—as a
consequence, more inspiring.

To
Robert Burton, 4/1/71:
Unfortunately, Urantia’s addition of the
Jesus story makes it religious and ties
it pretty much to the Christian
religion, which was a great disservice
to Urantia as a whole. The Oahspe
approach is so different, it can have
appeal to all faiths of those who emerge
from the orthodox faith and wish a
broader concept of the spiritual aspects
of the universe. . . . Even at your age,
and with all the monumental work you
have done on behalf of Urantia, we feel
you will find great consolation in a
re-reading of Oahspe, in the light of
all you have gone through, and you need
this before you leave this life because
some things in Urantia are not true,
which is the fundamental reason why we
cannot endorse it.

To
Robert Burton, 12/7/72: Martha
and I have found much consolation in
Oahspe, which supplies knowledge and
inspiration that Urantia, remarkable as
it seemed at one time, does not.

Burton
to Sherman, 12/21/72: Because
of your interest in Oahspe I reviewed it
and was specially interested in it its
recognition of the importance of proper
nutrition and right living for
increasing our inner perceptions. . . .
I notice that Oahspe recommends refining
the body to refine the senses. You are
right that it is a remarkable book.

To
Robert Burton, 1/21/74: I want
to comment on several other books of an
inspirational and spiritual nature,
purportedly written through automatic
writing or direct voice—dictated from
higher sources—books like Nature’s
Divine Revelations by Andrew Jackson
Davis and Oahspe by Dr. Newbrough. Are
you familiar with them? Both unusual, in
their way, and not too dissimilar from
Urantia in many areas.

To
Jacques Weiss, 12/25/74: One of
the great books of all time, in our
opinion, is the book called Oahspe. It
takes as much discipline to read it, the
first time through, as it took to read
Urantia, but once you get the panorama,
it explains the place all religions and
their leaders have occupied throughout
all history and defines as nearly as it
can be put into words, the concept of
Jehovi, creator of the unthinkably great
universe. This book presents a way of
living which can be applied to this life
in preparation for the dimensions
beyond, which Urantia does not touch
upon. Sadler belittled our experiences
here. The Thought Adjusters were going
to do the salvation job for us in the
main. We were overwhelmed by the
mathematical nature of the limited
universe—only seven superuniverses
comprising the “grand universe” and that
was it. You need to read Oahspe for
comparison.

Weiss
to Sherman, 1/6/75: I would
like to read Oahspe. . . .

To
Jacques Weiss, 1/13/75: I have
ordered a copy of Oahspe for you, and
when received, will mail it airmail. . .
. You should find Oahspe of enormous
interest. It is practically even in size
with Urantia and its origin has not been
concealed. You know the conditions and
circumstances under which it came into
being—and it, like Urantia, established
its significance by its contents.
Compare Oahspe with Urantia when you
have read it, and you will have to
discipline yourself and put yourself on
a regular reading schedule to go through
it the first time and get its vast
panorama in your mind. I believe you
will get a new perspective as to the
spiritual leaders who have come to earth
throughout our past on this planet. You
will get a much more specific picture of
the heaven-worlds or dimensions beyond,
than is given in Urantia, and how to
personally qualify for the next
existence.

To
Jacques Weiss, 1/27/75: Under
separate cover you are being mailed, by
air, a copy of the remarkable book,
Oahspe. . . . I suggest you dip into
this book in the latter chapters, to get
the “feel of it,” before you undertake
reading it from the start, which we have
now done three times, and we read a
little bit of it each night on
retirement. We frankly get more from it
than from Urantia—it has more of
personal value for everyday living and
personal growth. It is difficult to pick
one book above another but you might
read the following as an introduction:
The First Book of God; The Book of the
Arc of Bon; The Book of Cosmogony; The
Book of Eskra; The Book of Judgment. . .
. Jehovih is the Supreme Being of the
entire unlimited universe. There are
untold numbers of Gods (originally human
creatures) who have evolved on some
planet and who are now in “heaven
worlds,” assigned to supervising the
development of all souls in different
planes of being, including the earth
planes. . . . The identity of the author
of Oahspe is known, whereas Sadler tried
to keep the “instrument” unknown and
destroyed all original manuscripts so no
one could check changes made.

Weiss
to Sherman, 2/7/75: Having well
received your book Oahspe, I have tried
to read it according to your
suggestions, but with no success. Many
words escape my understanding and my
vocabulary. I cannot remember the
hundreds of new names and locate them
properly. Whatever I understood taught
me nothing that I did not know
previously and better through the
Urantia Book. Besides, the Urantia Book
explains that you have not understood a
teaching if you are not able to transmit
it to others. Since I will never be able
to do that, either to French speaking
people or to anybody else, I have
decided to give up immediately and
continue to devote my time to other
subjects.

To
Jacques Weiss, 2/12/75: I feel
sure, difficult though the reading may
have been had you come across Oahspe
before your knowledge of Urantia, that
you would have been deeply impressed. I
can understand your feeling that you
cannot get involved at your time of
life.

To
Robert Burton, 4/1/75: Thus
far, I have never known any person
connected with the Urantia Forum who has
developed spiritually as a result of
this association, so something is very
wrong. In contrast, those who have
seriously studied Oahspe are leading
changed lives. . . .

To
Robert Burton, 8/26/75: You
would have to study Oahspe to see the
vast difference—in its presentation of
knowledge leading to spiritual growth.
Just a statement that our spiritual
growth depends on our discrimination,
our decisions, and our actions, is not
instruction, as you have quoted from
Urantia. Oahspe tells, for example, in
detail, how to raise babies in the
spiritual consciousness, etc. We know
the name and background of the man, Dr.
Newbrough, through whom the “revelation”
came. Oahspe says that anything that
comes through the mind of man, however
spiritual, cannot be infallible.

Henry
Knost to Sherman, 8/6/76:
Harold, last week I went to Gray Drug
Store and bought a paperback book, How
to Know What to Believe, by you. I agree
with you 1000% and I am surprised that
you and your wife read Oahspe. Good for
you, so stick to it, for it is truly a
great knowledge and a definite fact.

To
Henry Belk, 8/14/76: I do not
agree that Oahspe “can’t hold a candle
to Urantia.” It is far ahead in concept,
is not tied to the Christian religion,
which is extremely limiting in Urantia’s
attempt to make Urantia a second
Biblical revelation.

To
Jacques Weiss, 9/10/76: You
surrendered the copy of Oahspe to your
friend Schwarz. It needs to be read for
comparison with the Book of Urantia. It
is truly a cosmic philosophy. Note this
statement from Oahspe; "Ye have holden
up your sacred books and said, ‘Here is
the ultimate; beyond this no man shall
go. And ye knew the while that any fixed
Revelation could not be true, because
all the Universe is in constant
progress.’”

W.A.
van Valkenburg to Sherman, 10/24/76:
The greatest, most authentic book Martha
and I have ever read is Oahspe. You will
see it advertised in Fate Magazine every
issue.

To
Howard Engle, 1/24/77: To
satisfy your curiosity, it is a mammoth
book, over 2000 pages. It’s name is The
Book of Urantia, which is supposed to be
the name of our planet, so-called by the
higher intelligences. If you want to
spend that amount of time reading, you
might better get a copy of the Oahspe to
which I have referred, and which is
advertised each month in Fate Magazine.
Either book will cost you around 15
bucks.

To
Gerald Touchet, 11/8/76: The
greatest book I have ever read, which
far eclipses Urantia, is Oahspe (meaning
sky, earth, and spirit), which bridges
the gap between the seen and the unseen
worlds and explains psychic phenomena in
terms anyone can understand.

To
Elliot Berry, 3/21/77: In a
most unusual book, Oahspe (advertised
each month in Fate Magazine) this
statement is made: "Ye have holden up
your sacred books, and said, ‘Here is
the ultimate, beyond this no man shall
go. And ye knew, the while, that any
fixed revelation could not be true,
because all the universe is in constant
progress.’" (God's Book of Esras Chapter
LV,708)

To
Richard Renwick, 6/20/77: In my
opinion, the greatest book which came
through higher sources is Oahspe. It has
been a great inspiration to Martha and
me, and it does give specific knowledge
for self-development, in preparation of
the life to come. It will take
disciplined reading and study. If you
get a copy, dip into some of the later
chapters at the start, like the Book of
Judgment, before you begin at the
beginning. It took us over three months
to read it through once, reading from
10-12 midnight, each day, taking turns
and discussing as we went. We still read
from it each night. It will give you a
different concept of all religions and
show you how to make contact with what I
have termed “God, the Great
Intelligence”—a higher power which
exists in your own consciousness.

To
David Kruse, 8/13/77: If you
cared to read the book Oahspe, to which
I have referred, you would be able to
compare its "inspired" material with
Urantia and judge which account of the
universe and our relationship to the
Supreme Intelligence appeals more to
reason. No mystery is made of the origin
of Oahspe, and no claim to
infallibility, nor is it tied to any
religion, which makes it more cosmic in
nature and frees it entirely from
man-made dogma, An ad informing where to
purchase Oahspe is contained in each
issue of Fate magazine.

To
Ignacio Rojas-Marcos, 7/10/80:
You might like to read, for comparison,
another “revelatory” book titled Oahspe,
synopsis of which I am enclosing. Here
is a well-documented transmission from
higher sources received in 1881 by Dr.
Newbrough, a highly gifted psychic. I
believe the contents of this book, which
will require the same fine study you
have given to Urantia, will appeal to
your sense of logic.

Van
Valkenburgh to Sherman, 8/19/84:
Thank you so much for sending the
material on the Oahspe book. It is
indeed a challenging volume and I'm sure
there is much truth contained within it.
After a rather careful review of the
material you sent to me and some spot
reading in the book itself, I find two
things that make it difficult for me to
embrace the book with the fervor with
which I have studied the Urantia Book
for so many years. First, the Oahspe
book seems to negate the great religions
of the world including Christianity (but
excepting Judaism—I wonder why?). Few
could argue that the great religions of
the world have allowed human fallibility
and mortal evil to distort the original
message. But to say that these religions
are the work of "false gods" is a far
different thing. I could never accept
that explanation of the religions of the
world. And, for example, a "beast" is
described with four heads, one of which
is Christianity. As a person deeply
convicted of the basic truth, beauty,
and goodness of Christianity, for all
its shortcomings, it would be very hard
to relate to a narrative that was so
inconsistent with this belief. And a
closely related second point is that
Oahspe does not acknowledge the Sonship
of Christ and His position as creator of
our universe. In fact, it directly
denies it. Again, this contradicts some
of my basic beliefs. In addition, I
quickly found technical errors in the
Oahspe book which appear more
"uninspired'' than any I’ve found in the
Urantia Book. Therefore I find that I
must continue to seek truth from sources
that seem to make spiritual "sense" to
me including the Bible and the Urantia
Book. . . .

To Van
Valkenburgh, 9/23/84: When
Oahspe refers to our spiritual leaders,
such as Christ, Confucius, etc., their
claims are certainly false when viewed
in the cosmic sense.

*Courtesy of
Archives and Special Collections of the
University of Southern Arkansas.

OAHSPE

A
NEW BIBLE

IN THE

WORDS OF JEHOVIH

AND HIS

Angel Ambassadors.

------------

A SACRED HISTORY

OF THE DOMINIONS OF THE HIGHER AND LOWER HEAVENS ON
THE EARTH.

FOR THE PAST

TWENTY - FOUR THOUSAND YEARS

TOGETHER WITH

A SYNOPSIS OF THE COSMOGONY OF THE
UNIVERSE; THE CREATION OF PLANETS; THE
CREATION OF MAN; THE UNSEEN WORLDS; THE LABOR AND GLORY OF
GODS AND GODDESSES IN THE ETHEREAN HEAVENS;WITH THE

NEW COMMANDMENTS OF JEHOVIH TO MAN OF THE PRESENT DAY.
WITH REVELATIONS FROM
THE SECOND RESURRECTION, FORMED IN WORDS IN THE THIRTY-
THIRD YEAR OF THE KOSMON ERA.